Question for October 24-25 1998:

THE POSTMAN KNOCKS TWICE

Q: I am following your diet for type O's after being introduced to your book by a friend. I had no trouble getting my blood type due to recent surgery. My friend on the other hand, has not been able to ascertain her blood type through the usual channels. Her mother is an O, both her brothers are B's and the typing test she just received from a local lab indicates she is an A. If all three were produced by the same parents, is this possible?

A: Yes. If the father is AB. Most genes exist in a dominant/recessive relationship, and blood type is no different. We get two blood type genes (one from each parent). By convention, when referring to the gene rather than the effect of the gene, the letter is italicized and the dominant gene CAPITALIZED. Both the A and B gene are dominant to the o gene. However they are "co-dominant" with each other. In other words, if you get an A gene from one parent and a B gene from another, you're AB. You can only be type O if you get two o genes (oo). This can be seen from the infamous "Punnett Square" of High School Biology days:

Thus, the two brothers (by simple luck-of-the-draw) by getting one B gene from dad and a o gene from mom are Bo, and since the B gene is dominant to o gene, are type B (yellow boxes). Your friend, again by luck, is type A for the same reasons (A+o = Ao = Type A)

Question for October 22-23 1998:

BUTYRATE AND GHEE

Q: Where can I get butyrate, the fatty acid/ fiber supplement recommended in your book?

A: Butyrate is a short chain fatty acid normally appearing as a result of colonic fermentation of fiber in the gut. Butyrate is a preferred source of energy for the cells of the intestinal lining and several studies suggest that it is the effect of butyrate which actually gives dietary fiber its anti-cancer effects: cells incubated in high butyrate environments tend to not mutate as frequently.

There were companies marketing commercial preparations of "calcium/magnesium butyrate" however, most have stopped doing so. The ARA6 preparation discussed here on other occasions will increase butyrate concentrations in the intestines.

You can also make "ghee," an Ayurvedic preparation of clarified butter. Loaded with short chain fatty acids, including butyric acid. OK for all types. I found this recipe on the internet:

GHEE

Preparation time: less then 30 minutes

Ingredients:


Qty Type Item
--- ----- --------------------------------------------------
1 lb. High Quality Butter (Organic is best)

Bring the butter to boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered until done. There are a couple of ways to determine when it is done. One way is after the butter turns a clear golden color, dip a strip of paper into the butter, then move away from the butter and all other flammables and light the strip of paper on fire, if the paper sputters, crackles and pops, then the water has not been completely cooked-out and the ghee is not yet done. After using this method a time or two you can easily tell by the smell and color when the ghee has been properly cooked. Note when the butter first starts to boil there will be alot of bubbling and gurgling, then this action will subside, next the ghee will begin to develop a foam at the top, at this point the ghee is done. Once you make Ghee a time or two it becomes easy to tell when it is done.

Comments:

What is Ghee? It's is basically butter that has the milk solids and water removed. According to Ayurveda, Ghee (clarified butter) is the best oil for cooking. This is because when used in moderation it stimulates the digestion (Agni) better than any other oil. It also has the ability to increase one's immunity (called Ojas in Ayurveda). Give it a try! It is very tasty and without the side effects of plain butter. Note: Ghee does not require refrigeration if you keep moisture out of it; forexample, don't dip a wet spoon into the ghee jar.

Question for October 20-22 1998:

EVEN MORE MAILBAG STUFF

Q: I am type O. Last year my doctor ran an Elisa Allergy blood test because he suspected that I had some food allergies. The test showed the I was highly allergic to the exact same foods that ER4YT says I should not eat. Is this a common occurence? Is it further evidence supporting the concepts behind ER4YT.

A: It is common enough to make me think many of the other allergy determination methods, such as rotation dieting, ELISA and RAST are not really worth the extra effort, and indeed will tend to generate more false positives and false negatives than they will pinpoint foods not identified via ABO blood type. Most are also very expensive.

Q: Dr D'Adamo, This review on amazon.com, while obviously posted by a classic rationalist-skeptic- empiricist (ironically the most biased people you'll ever meet), does raise a few questions for me. His comment, " The simple controlled, clinical trial under unbiased rules, seems to have taken a holiday for this author: not suprising, because I found this to be true in many other areas of naturopathic medicine which are the roots of his education and experience. " rings in my ears. It's an annoying comment anyway, since your book was for the mass-market, not an article for medical research. But, are there any plans to do controlled clinical trials of the Blood Type Diet? It seems simple enough to do. You put a group of people on the ADA diet, and another group on the diet according to their type. Or you compare one group of Type Os eating the O diet and another group eating the A diet. If this is what it takes to convince the Big Boys of Science, why not do it?

A: Interesting perspective, and as you say, if the book was written for that type of audience, it would be a valid criticism. Problem is, ER4YT is a victim of its own success. If it was just a cult book, with sales of 5,000 or so I doubt that its presentation would have been a problem. But again and again, I hear from critics "well, if the author is going to write a NY Times bestseller..."

As if you plan these sort of things!

One day I'll release the original manuscript. It bears little resemblance to the final work. Largely because I wrote it in a style anticipating this type of reaction. Very dense, very heavy. However, both Catherine Whitney and the editors at Puntam made a strong case that this type of presentation results in a book that has no ability to appeal to normal people. Many of the things that appeal to normal readers, like the title "Eat Right 4 Your Type," or phrases like "I have discovered a little-known secret and now I am going to share it with you." make health professionals (rightly or wrongly) cringe. To a degree, they make me cringe as well. But the bottom line is the message, not the messenger. I have written many technical articles on the subject; very little of it ever got noticed.

Now about studies. First, it would be a very costly undertaking. Second, it would require the support of an accredited research facility. Third, if I did it and showed positive results, no one would believe it because I am the proponent and "guru" of the basic theory.

Yet I'm expected to have financed all this before even before writing the book.

Anyway, this type of study will come eventually. As Dr Bernie Siegel told me: "First they try to prove you wrong, but they will only succeed in proving you right." But of course it will not matter to most critics, who are just not going to accept it anyway. "Simple, unbiased, controlled clinical trials" has a nice ring to it, but most skeptics sling it around as a gold standard. If so, why not give the goose what is good for the gander? The drugs Gemfibrizol, Steptokinase, Tamoxifen, Taxol and even glucose (for hypoglycemic coma in diabetes) where not studied before being clinically employed; these in addition to 25% of all medical interventions.

About a year ago, the TV news show "Inside Edition" actually put the diet to the test. They had independent nutritionists put a type A on the A diet and a type O on the O diet. A third person was put on a standard ADA diet. In two weeks the type A lost 9 pounds, the type O lost 11 pounds and the control gained 1 pound. What had originally been planned to be an "expose" turned into a smashing victory for the diet, culminating in host Deborah Norville signing off by saying "We're convinced, sign us up."

All the book requires is that you suspend disbelief and try the diet for 2-3 weeks. Few of the critics have ever done that. Instead they pick the rationale apart, at their leisure.

I'll take being right for the wrong reasons to being wrong for the right reasons anyday.

Q: How much blood is in a persons body? And how much energy is in a persons body? How many blood cells are in a persons body? Love, Claudia & Emily D'Adamo

A: There are about 7-9 quarts of blood in an average person. About enough to keep Count Dracula busy for about 2 weeks, but only if he keeps it in the refrigerator.

I don't really know how much energy is in a person. It has been estimated that the brain puts out about 40 watts of electricity, which would power a small light bulb (the origin of the light bulb symbol above our heads when people have an idea?) On a very small scale, there is probably a LOT of energy in the body because when we move our arms and legs we are actually setting off tiny explosions in our muscles. If we added them all up, and they all went off together, we'd probably blow ourselves up!

There are about a trillion (1,000,000,000,000) cells in the body, give or take a few. About 12% are blood cells, so the number of blood cells is about 120 billion (120,000,000,000). Each blood cell has between 300 and 1000 blood type molecules on it, so there are about 80-120 trillion blood type molecules just in your blood! There's even more in your digestive tract!

Love, Dada

Question for October 15-16 1998:

MORE MAILBAG STUFF

Q: My homeopathic doctor started our 2 year old son on the ER4YT because of his seizures. I must say, I really appreciate and believe that this diet has changed our lives! He no longer is having seizures, and the neurologist discharged him because of his clean EEG's! Also, he no longer has high white blood cell count, and the leukemia scare is gone. I was feeding him the wrong food!

Thank You! Dr D'Adamo!

A: Cool. Let's hear from you again about your son's progress. Kudos to your homeopath.

Q: I have read your recent book and find it extremely interesting. I have even changed my diet to accomodate some of your suggestions. I was listening to the radio and there was a health show on. The scientific credibility of your work was questioned and the sponsor of the show said there was no scientific evidence substantiating your claims that one's digestive and immune system is related to blood type. This was rather startling to me. What would do you have to say in your defence to these kind of statements? I would even like to pursue references on the subject matter.

A: Let's see... If you get transfused with the wrong blood type you die... I think that conclusively proves that blood type has a lot to do with the immune system. As far as the digestive tract... just access the page "Literature review" from the home page link. One article discusses a link between an intestinal enzyme and blood type. Believe me, there's lots more. So much for no link between blood type and digestion. Perhaps the host of the health show you listen to is threatened in some way with the possibility of this system achieving pre-eminency over one that he or she favors. I can assure you that not everyone in the alternative community accepts the premise of ER4YT. In many instances it is a case of "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up already."

Did the host claim to have researched and evaluated the scientific literature prior to making that statement, or did they just say it in such a way to imply it was true?

Be careful. There are a lot of bad health shows on the radio these days.

I should know.. I've been a guest on most of them.

Q: My fiance and I are both Type A. We followed the blood type diet strictly for three months. At that point, his gas (which had been constant and intense for about 30 years) had all but disappeared, and his chronic headaches had diminished in frequency and severity. (He still has asthma and lots of sinus congestion.) I, however, felt no different at all. This lack of results left me unmotivated to continue on the diet. Do you think I could be the rarer type of A? What would you suggest?

A: Probably more likely your fiance has more problems to fix than you do. Think of it like this: It is much easier to take an F student and convert them into a C student than it is to take a C student and make an A+ student out of him or her. I would just advocate following the diet for a total of "4 seasons" before I'd give up on it. On another note, the A diet is much more preventive in scope than the other diets; sometimes you just have to reconcile doing things for a better and brighter future.

Q: In the book food category frequencys are listed by ancestry. I am Mexican, which guideline do I follow?

A: Caucasian.

Q: I have type O blood and was on a diet very close to the type O diet for many years, with cholesterol of 126. Then I had a heart attack and my physicians put me on a vegan (type A) diet, on which I have lost 60 pounds, but my cholesterol went up to 244. I'm concerned about the amount of saturated fat on a type O diet. Thanks.

A: Not a problem (as you can tell) if you are using lean, organic meats and exercising. By the way, an increase in cholesterol in type O vegans is not uncommon, probably a response of excess insulin production (because, as my colleague Greg Kelly says, "Most vege-tarians are in reality starch-etarians."). Hyperinsulinemia has twice the risk factor for heart disease as elevated cholesterol and would be much more of a threat to you.

Q: My husband is blood type O and I am type A. We just printed out something from your FAQ and were shocked to read that we should be eating 70-80% of the time according to the BENEFICIAL LIST only. For 3-1/2 months we've been following the plan 70-80-90% of the time but have been using foods from both (appropriate for O and A) neutral AND beneficial lists. Are we now interpreting the instruction correctly? For maximum effectiveness are we really suppposed to be eating 70-80% of our respective diets ONLY from the BENEFICIAL LISTS?

A: Relax. You're doing fine. If you are basically fit, 70-80% from BOTH the neutral and beneficial is going to work just fine. Obviously, the more of a health issue you have, the more you will have to work at it.

Question for October 8-10 1998:

THE D'ADAMO SUPRA-TERRANEAN OMNI-DELIC EXO-DIET COOKBOOK

Q: Dear Dr D'Adamo, I am type A and my wife is type O as are you and yours I believe. My question is "Will your new cookbook have 'combination' recipes so that meals can be prepared with two or more different blood types in mind?" Also, I have had a 12 year old boy whose lungs were full of mucous since birth become completely clear in less than two weeks while following the blood type diet (type O)!!! His mother is full of gratitude and not only does he breathe better but he even looks better! To help further confirm your observation, I am a type A and do tend toward sub-clinical hypothyroidism. My morning body temperature is always 2 degrees lower than normal.

A: I've just seen the galley proofs of CR4YT and it looks great. Putnam just sent me a clipping from BOOKLIST, the influential publication used by most libraries to determine demand and hence purchasing strategies. Nice review, which pretty much answers your question. The star next to the title is given to only a select few titles and essentially signifies to the library purchaser "Get this book." They've also requested a stat of the cover which is an even rarer occurance. Needless to say the people at Putnam are quite pleased about this, as many book stores use BOOKLIST as a buying guide as well.

BOOKLIST: 11/15/98

* D'Adamo, Peter and Whitney, Catherine. Cook Right 4 Your Type: The Practical Kitchen Companion to Eat Right 4 Your Type. Jan 1999. 464p. Putnam, $24.95 (0-399-14437-4). DDC:640

Appearing two years after D'Adamo's currently best-selling Eat Right 4 Your Type, this cookbook provides more than 200 easy-to-prepare recipes keyed to and coded for their effects on the four human blood types. The earlier book proposed that eating or avoiding certain foods according to blood type leads to not only improved health but also weight control. The first quarter of the cookbook gives a brief summary of the eating plan's rationale, nutrition basics and guidelines for each type, and food charts listing for each type those foods that are highly beneficial, neutral, or to be avoided. The meat of the book is the recipe section, which includes a dozen "cyber recipes" contributed to the author's website recipe exchange. Along with the expected sections (meat and poultry, beans and grains) are those for tofu and tempeh and pizza. Replacement ingredients for alternate blood types are clearly indicated. No nutritional data are supplied other than the recipe's effect on each blood type. Thirty-day meal plans for each type, a cross-reference of recipes for multitype households, and a list of mail-order food suppliers are appended to this welcome follow-up. Expect high demand.-Penny Spokes

Question for October 5-6 1998:

STRAINS OF A SPECIOUS CRITICISM?

Q: I've got a link to the Amazon.com page from my personal pages referencing the ER4YT book and have sold a few copies that way, and occasionally like to see what comments other folks have left on the Amazon.com site as reviews. Its interesting to note that the only people with negative things to say are the people who haven't even tried the plan. One such message I thought you might be interested in seeing, so here it is cut and pasted:

"I have only glanced at a friends copy, but that was all it took to discover that either A) the book is worthless, or B) the book is badly written. I am a gardener and seed saver so I have to know which species my veggies are so I won't get accidental crosses. The writer advises one type to eat turnips, but not chinese cabbage(or vice-versa). They are the same plant species, just different strains. Believe me, they cross, I have grown seed of crosses between the two, can I eat them or not? He advises type O to avoid cabbage, brussels sprouts and one other cabbage type plant, but says to eat kale, broccoli and collards. Again the same plant species. He advises one type to avoid solanacea, listing some as okay and others as not. All this done without any explanation. Do some solanacea species contain less solanine? I think the author better learn something about plants."

[shrug] for what its worth... Have a great day!

A: I doubt one can develop an appreciation of the discretion and complexity that goes into ER4YT food choices if they were to just look at the diets (but not actually read the book's text) and tried to figure it out from there. Undoubtably there is going to be what appear as contradictory-type findings. In the case of this reviewer, they can't seem to understand why one strain of a different species would have a different value than another. This might appear logical, but lectins are not logical compounds. Rather, they highly idosyncratic compounds. Remember, their Latin derivation is "to choose." (L.legere) Lectins are choosy molecules. Not only can they be present in one similar plant strain versus another, but can also be present in the same food at one life stage (domestic mushroom) and absent at another (portobello mushroom). They might be inactivated by refining (wheat, sometimes), activated by sprouting (mung beans) or inactivated by heat from food processing (corn) or activated by it (banana and apple). Whether a vegetable is a member of the solanacea family is not the issue (though it seems to be common knowledge in some circles that members of this family argumentatively promote arthritis) but rather whether the food contains lectins or stimulates intestinal polyamine formation; some solanaceas do so in particular blood types, some don't.

I'd suggest an third, additonal option:

C) Read the book, not just the diet pages, before you jump to conclusions based on prior knowledge.

POSTSCRIPT: A reader from Brussels Belgium writes to say that her sinusitis has improved after using some of the strategies recommended as a response to her question:

"I would like to thank you for your good advices about the treatment of my ethmoid infection. After differents months visiting several specialists, I am much better now and do not have to be operated. "A.L. - Brussels, Belgium

Question for October 4 1998:

A FEW MORE QUICK QUESTIONS, CONTINUED

Q: Dr D'Adamo I have just been diagnosed as suffering from lead poisoning and my blood tests show I am anemic and have low levels of minerals, particulaly zinc. I am currently beginning chelation therapy treatment. My doctor advised me to alter my diet with recommendations contained in your book for my blood type which is "B+". I am, what he describes as a "non-secretor." Can you explain the difference between a secretor and a non-secretor? Also, can a non-secretor with my blood type eat chicken? I look forward to your response. Thanks.

A: A "secretor" is someone who has the "secretor gene." This gene (FUT2) codes for the free elaboration of ABO antigens into the secretions (sweat, tears, mucous) in large amounts. Thus, secretors (90% of population) have more expression of their ABO blood type characteristics than non-secretors (10%). Though there is less B antigen in your digestive tract as a non-secretor than a comparable B secretor, non-secretors have a variety of other problems on their digestive tract lining, including a distinct lack of immunoglobulin A ("Secretory IgA") which acts as a further protective element. So, I'd still avoid chicken if I were you.

Q: I am a Type O. I understand and agree with your scientific reasoning that led to the development of the diet. I suffer from several of the ailments that you mention in your book that Type Os contract: severe food allergies or intolerances, H. pylori in my stomach, and the digestive problems you pointed out that are common for Type Os. I have faithfully followed the Type O diet for many months, but I have not improved at all. What could I be doing that is incorrect?

A: H. pylori can be very difficult to erradicate. You might want to look into using some bladderwrack (fucose sugar inhibits bacterial attachment), bismuth subnitrate (basically Pepto-Bismol) or even antibiotics, to allow you to get a leg up on the critter and give the diet some room to maneuver. Fresh ginger juice also helps.

Q: Hi. I am taking 20mg of Prozac, pre- natals,as well as 112mcg synthroid, and breastfeeding my 8 week old son. I just started the type O diet. Can I take the amino acids tyrosine and arginine, along with bladder wrack? (I have battled bulemia for many years~ the prozac is for that). Thank You!!!

A: The tyrosine and arginine are after all major components of the protein in our diet, so they should not be a problem. The Fucus (bladderwarck), I am less I am less sure about, because it has some mild effects on the thyroid, although its predominant sugar, fucose, is found in highest concentration in human milk over other mammalian species.

Q: I have just heard about substances called glycoproteins can these sugars be utilized by all blood groups to help with their specific blood type sugar inadequacies ?

A: Most of the glycoproteins advertised in these formulas do not have blood type specificity and probably would not influence the blood type aspects of either the immune system or the digestive tract. They might help other aspects though, such as colon health.

Q: What problems could occur when an O blood type mother is carrying an A blood type fetus and strictly follows the eat right for your type diet for her blood type? My husband and I have been trying to conceive a child and there is a good chance that the baby will have A blood. We have been following this diet for several weeks and feel great! I don't want to stop just because I get pregnant if I don't have to.

A: Actually, following the blood type specific diet for the mother will tend to minimize antibody-antigen reactions between the mother and fetus of opposing blood types. Many of these antibody-antigen complexes require lectins for their full activation (the lectins act as helpers, or "adjuvants"). Following the "oligo-lectin" aspect of the blood type diet should help minimize this component.

Q: Taking quarter cup of flax seed a day, getting omega 3 and lignins this way. Type O . Is this a problem?

A: Nope.

Q: Why are sunflower seeds and sunflower by-products bad for Type AB?

A: Sunflower seeds contain a type B hemmaglutininating lectin. AB's have the B antigen as well as the A antigen.

Questions for October 2-3 1998:

A FEW QUICK QUESTIONS, CONTINUED

Q: Peter.....What is your blood type and what do you typically eat in a day? Just curious how you follow the program. Thanks

A: Type A.

Breakfast: Usually cereal or fruit with soy milk. Lunch: Invariably "Bean curd and Mixed Vegetables- brown rice, cut small, no MSG, no red pepper" ($3.75- All you can eat!) from the local Chinese restaurant down the street from my office. Green tea. Dinner: Fish, turkey or vegetarian entree. Occasionally I'll have a shake instead of a meal, although this is more recent, as we have been experimenting with production variations of the ABO protein powders in the house.

Let me put it like this: I eat less meat than the average American. I drink more coffee than the average health enthusiast. I eat more tofu and soy products than the average American. I do less vigorous exercise than the average health enthusiast. I eat more snails than the average American. I take less vitamins than the average health enthusiast.

Q: Hello. Digestion of carbohydrates starts in the mouth. With this in mind, is it not possible for type O's to eat wheat and corn which has been chewed thoroughly first? I have read in the past that very good chewing can in some cases render even poisonous substances inactive. So wondering whether the same principle could be applied by O's in order to eat wheat products. Best Regards.

A: Actually, many dietary lectins are enhanced by mastication (chewing), including the lectins in banana, carrot, apple, white potatoe, tomatoe and a host of others... and much absorption occurs through the buccal (mouth) cavity. So I would probably disagree.

Q: Can Type O's ingest too much zinc?

A: Sure. Anyone can ingest too much zinc. This can be a problem when taking a multitude of different supplements, all containing "safe" amounts of zinc, but which together amount to a toxic dose. In general, one should avoid taking more than 15 mg daily unless under the supervision of a trained professional. Zinc has very paradoxical effects in the body: small amounts over a short period of time enhance immunity, whereas larger amounts over longer periods suppress immunity.

Q: I'd like your comments on the recent posting by two naturopaths on the vegsource website. It disagrees with your ideas. As well could you address the concerns under the blood type diet by Dr Klaper. Thanks.

A: Puhleeeeze. If someone is going to refute my theory, they should use resources more current than 15-year-old textbooks from their naturopathic student years, or a 70-year-old work on natural hygiene. As far as a line-by-line denunciation? Don't have the time, and besides, I now make it a point to never argue religion with people. As far as Dr Klaper's criticisms, read this.

Recent Guestbook Entry: The following was left as an entry on the Guestbook. I thought it was interesting:

"I have been following the recommendations in the book for almost a year now. The lectin idea made immediate sense to me, as I have a degree in biochemistry. I tested my own blood type with a piece of chicken and a lima bean. Being, type B, my blood stuck to the chicken, washed off the lima bean. I have not eaten a bite of chicken since. Wish I had known about this stuff a few years ago: my daughter, blood type O, had serious health problems which, in retrospect, could have been easily prevented by adherence to a type O diet."

A FEW QUICK QUESTIONS

Q: Do you believe in GOD? or do you believe we evolved?

A: Both.

Q: I have been following ER4YT for about six weeks now and am very pleased with the way I've been feeling. I have more energy , less tired muscles and as an added bonus I've lost 12 lbs. I am an A type and my question is: As a letter carrier I am required to walk about 8 miles a day carrying weights up to 40 lbs. I know that my preferred form of exercise should be yoga but I can't afford to quit my job. Is there anything I should be doing in the way of diet or supplements to lessen the effects of such strenuous exercise? I find that I am very tired at the end of the day and although this has improved with the diet I feel it could be better. I am a 52 yr. old female and have been doing this job for 19 yrs. Thanks for all you've done for me so far!

A: Over-exercised type A's tend to have higher levels of cortisol which can result in fatigue and muscle weakness. Try 750mg of vitamin C (any form is fine) daily. It may help balance this out.

Q: Do all deli meats contain nitrates--even sliced roast turkey, for instance?

A: Yes.

[POSTSCRIPT] This note was sent to me after reading my answer: "FYI: There is a brand of deli meats - Applegate Farm - that does not contain nitrates and is organically produced. Turkey, turkey ham, turkey salami, smoked turkey, turkey hot dogs, turkey bacon, etc., are all part of the line. My local supermarket in the wilds of Vermont carries Applegate products. Some of the line is also carried by the mail order natural foods company Walnut Acres (which has a toll free number which can be gotten from the toll-free directory 1-800-555-1212). Also, some supermarkets prepare roast beef in-house that does not contain nitrates. "

Q: I am a type O who has node negative breast cancer as well as osteoarthritis. I would like to take medicinal mushrooms (maitake - reishi) as recommended by Andrew Weil. Your book says O's should avoid mushrooms. What about medicinal mushroom extracts?

A: Maitake should be fine. Try to use the isolate ("D-Fraction") it has more bang for the buck.

Q: You've done such a great job with the message board, is it possible to re-set the Recipe Exchange so the new ones show up first? Then we could just check every so often and easily see the ones that have been added since our last check.

A: Sure.

Q: One of my fellow massage therapy students suffers from fibromyalgia. A few days ago, she told me that researchers have discovered that fibromyalgics have more permeable small intestines. Would a higher percentage of dietary lectins pass into the bloodstream as a result? What is the connection between lectins and fibromyalgia?

A: The immunologist DJ Freed has written that fibromyalgia seems to be related to increased sensitivity to wheat germ agglutinin. This is probably the result of increased intestinal permiability. Apparently, the lectin assists antibodies in adhering to muscle tissue, or stimulating the release of inflammatory mediators. Avoidance of wheat or the inclusion of the amino sugar acetylated glucosamine (not glucosamine sulphate) can block the effect of wheat germ lectin. Since the condition is fairly unresponsive to conventional or even other complemetary therapies, it is probably worth trying. I have seen it work in my own practice.

Question for October1 1998:

TYPE O WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION

Q: I am 55 yr old woman with O+ and long history of recurrent major depression. Your suggestion to excercise vigorously, rather than just walking has improved my sense of well being. However, your site only speaks against St John's Wort. Am wondering whether you suggest any natural herbs for MDD in Type O's? Thanks for all of your research and availability here. Do see that my body prefers type O foods for the most part. Craving sweets remains a problem though. Thanks again.

A: Type O's have lower levels of the enzyme MAO, and St. Johns Wort is an MAO inhibitor. This perhaps explains why many type Os on St Johns Wort say they feel "weird" or have disturbing dreams. I have however been finding that type O's with mild to moderate depression do benefit from the amino acid tyrosine (which can boost dopamine levels), and arginine (which is used to recycle nitrous oxide in the nervous system). Also, the gene for the enzyme dopamine beta hydroxylase sits right on top of the ABO gene and there are indications that this may cause psychiatric syndromes to be somewhat related to ABO blood group. Maybe those Japanese personality observations were not so off-the-wall after all? It is interesting that dopamine, a chemical which is closely linked with sense of well-being, when defficient also produces hypoglycemia, which you allude to at the end of your question. Perhaps even more interesting is that the chemical structure of dopamine resembles the ABO antigens.

What does blood type have to do with neurotransmitters and the neuro-hormonal response to stress? While the use of blood type as a determinant of personality traits has been prevalent in Japan, a lack of tangible scientific facts had relegated these cultural beliefs to the realm of fantasy. However, an increasing amount of evidence indicates that individuals of differing blood groups have extremely different responses to the same stressor. Equally surprising, the genetics of blood group also appear to alter your susceptibility to developing certain neuro-psychiatric disorders. Even the response to inhaled nitric oxide seems to be modulated along the lines of blood type.

Stress, brain chemicals, nitric oxide; the common ground these disparate observations share is that all are dependent on neuro-hormonal signals to moderate an appropriate response to environmental factors. This is where science meets magic, because these neuro-hormonal signals are all mediated by the availability of certain nutritional building blocks and the activity of specific enzymes to catalyze the transformation of neurotransmitters and stress hormones.

Through the miracle of the human genome project, it has become possible to explore the very fabric of human genetics. And just as Dorothy drew the curtain back to reveal the great and marvelous Oz, we can now begin to see the reality behind these blood type specific responses. Evidence indicates the gene that controls blood type expression is probably also linked to and controls inheritence of the genes that code for the activity of dopamine-beta hydroxylase, catechol-O-methyl transferase, and arginosuccinate synthetase. Coincidentally, these are all enzymes that influence our neuro-hormonal response to environmental factors.

With these facts in mind, I developed a formula for mild depression in type O individuals called "Catechol-O." What I attempted to do with the product was allow for maximum efficiency of brain dopamine metabolism though the use of nutritional co-factors such as tyrosine, tri-methyl glycine and folate while also assisting the regulation of nitric oxide synthesis through the use of the amino acid arginine, vitamins C, B12 and Co Q 10. In type O's with depression, the formula seems to be surprisingly effective.

Catechol-O is available from the shopping mall on this website.

REFERENCES:

Rinieris PM, Stefanis CN, Lykouras EP, Varsou EK. Affective disorders and ABO blood types.Biol Psychiatry 1988 Dec;24(8):903-917

Results of the present study provide evidence of: 1) a positive association between bipolar affective disorder and blood type O and a corresponding negative association between the former and blood type A, 2) a positive association between unipolar affective disorder and blood type O,

Craig SP, Buckle VJ, Lamouroux A, Mallet J, Craig IW. Localization of the human dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) gene to chromosome 9q34.Cytogenet Cell Genet 1988;48(1):48-50

A human cDNA clone for dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) has been isolated from a phaeochromocytoma library. In situ hybridization of this probe to replication-banded chromosomes has localized the gene to chromosome 9q34. The structural gene for the enzyme is therefore close to the ABO blood group locus. This suggests that the previously described activity variation in levels of serum DBH may reflect alterations in either the structure or regulation of the DBH coding sequences. Both biochemical and genetic evidence therefore indicate independence of DBH from the pterin-dependent aromatic amino acid hydroxylases of the neurotransmitter pathways.

Wilson AF, Elston RC, Siervogel RM, Tran LD. Linkage of a gene regulating dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity and the ABO blood group locus.Am J Hum Genet 1988 Jan;42(1):160-166

Previous studies have presented evidence suggesting that levels of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) activity are controlled by a gene linked to the ABO blood group locus. In this study, linkage analyses in four
large families of whites and one family of blacks were performed on the untransformed and on the square root--and natural log--transformed DBH activity. In the families of white individuals, the results of both
the sib-pair and lod-score linkage analyses strongly indicate that a gene regulating DBH activity is linked to the ABO blood group locus on chromosome 9q (i.e., lod score 5.88 at a recombination fraction of .0). The
transformation used has a large effect on the maximum lod score and estimated recombination fraction.

Goldin LR, Gershon ES, Lake CR, Murphy DL, McGinniss M, Sparkes RS. Segregation and linkage studies of plasma dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH), erythrocyte catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), and platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO): possible linkage between the ABO
locus and a gene controlling DBH activity.Am J Hum Genet 1982 Mar;34(2):250-262

Measurements of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH), catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), and monoamine oxidase (MAO) along with 27 polymorphic marker phenotypes were available for 162 patients with major affective disorders and 1,125 of their relatives. COMT in 30 families with 351 individuals, and MAO in 50 families with 309 individuals. The familial distribution of both DBH and COMT are consistent with two codominant alleles at the same locus that account for 56% and 59% of the total variance, respectively. MAO activity cannot be shown to be segregating as a single major gene, but a purely nongenetic hypothesis is also rejected. A possible linkage of a locus for DBH to the ABO locus is indicated by a maximum lod score of 1.82 at 0% and 10% recombination fractions for males and females, respectively.

Arato M, Bagdy G, Rihmer Z, Kulcsar Z. Reduced platelet MAO activity in healthy male students with blood group O.Acta Psychiatr Scand 1983 Feb;67(2):130-134

The association between the two genetic markers of affective disorders, ABO blood group system and platelet MAO (monoamine oxidase) activity was studied in 70 healthy young males. The platelet MAO activity of subjects with blood type O was significantly lower than that of subjects with blood type A and with blood types A + B AB + B together. This finding could constitute a "bridge" between the two genetic approaches to affective disorders.

Sherrington R, Curtis D, Brynjolfsson J, Moloney E, Rifkin L, Petursson H, Gurling H. A linkage study of affective disorder with DNA markers for the ABO-AK1-ORM linkage group near the dopamine beta hydroxylase gene. Biol Psychiatry 1994 Oct 1;36(7):434-442

Combining data from a number of studies has provided evidence for a susceptibility allele for affective disorder near to the ABO-AK1-ORM region on chromosome 9q34. The dopamine beta hydroxylase gene locus is also at 9q34. Five multigenerational families with bipolar and unipolar affective disorder were analyzed for linkage with highly polymorphic microsatellite markers from the candidate region. The segregation of the illness in these families was compatible with an autosomal dominant susceptibility allele.